FireChat Love Brings Android to Internet-Free Chat

iOS users don’t get to have all the fun anymore. Android users can join in on the FireChat fun now, too!

FireChat’s ability to reach other users without an Internet connection or SMS has reached Android phones. Through a mixture of Bluetooth technology and FireChat’s own mesh network technology developed for Android, FireChat creator Open Garden that allowed the startup to extend the app to the Android platform. FireChat is now available on the Android platform. The newest version also includes a boost for iOS users too, cross-platform messaging, allowing Apple and Android users to chat via the app.

Like its iOS-only predecessor version, the new FireChat, dubbed “FireChat Love,” relies on peer-to-peer mesh networking technology to enable the network’s strength for off the grid communications. This technology is based on individual devices, so each smartphone or other device in the network helps strengthen it. Now Open Garden has added the infrastructure to facilitate building the network across the two largest smartphone platforms, providing the potential for the network to grow even further.

A larger network means messages can go further, making it more likely to reach someone further away without having to send a text or rely on data-supported messaging apps. Originally built based on a broadcast feature exclusive to Apple products, the technology that enables the AirDrop feature on MacBook computers, the Open Garden extended the technology to the Android platform using Bluetooth, which can carry the peer to peer mesh network.